FOODS FROM BY-PRODUCTS 277 



food as corn. From such feeding, rapid gains are secured. 

 It is more common to feed oil cake in small quantities and 

 toward the close of the fattening season, as then the sooth- 

 ing effects of this food are more needed than at other times. 

 When feeding for show purposes, it is almost considered in 

 a sense a necessity, because of the favorable influence which 

 it exerts on digestion under forced feeding, and also be- 

 cause of the fine, glossy coat which results from feeding it. 

 As a food for cows in milk, oil cake -up to a certain limit is 

 most satisfactory. Beyond that limit it is thought to affect 

 the quality of butter adversely, both in regard to firmness 

 and keeping properties. The limit may be fixed at, say 

 three pounds per animal per day. Carefully conducted tests 

 have shown that the increase in milk production did not 

 keep pace with increase in amount of oil cake fed, when fed 

 in large quantities. In tests at the Pennsylvania experiment 

 station, it was found that rather more milk resulted from 

 feeding cotton seed meal, but that a little more butter re- 

 sulted from feeding oil meal, pound for pound. As a regu- 

 lator of digestion, oil meal is, of course, as helpful with 

 dairy cows as with animals that are being fattened. The 

 necessity for feeding it decreases with decrease in the 

 amount of carbohydrates fed, and also in the forcing char- 

 acter of the ration, and with increase in the amount of bran, 

 field roots or other succulent food fed 



For sheep, oil cake is quite as satisfactory as for feed- 

 ing cattle. It furnishes an excellent food for feeding to 

 lambs, even at an early age or as a part of the grain ration 

 subsequently to the weaning season. A limited amount is 

 excellent for sheep that are being wintered on dry food and 

 for breeding ewes. When fattening lambs and mature sheep 

 on dry food, it is equally beneficial, and may be fed to them 

 in larger quantities, proportionate to the forced character 

 of the feeding. More commonly it is not fed to form more 

 than 10 per cent of the meal ration, but may be in a much 

 larger proportion when the price will justify such feeding. 



